A Critical evaluation of different methods of recording centric jaw relation of completely edentulous Individuals: An In Vivo study

This study was performed to evaluate the consistency of four different centric relation records and comparing their horizontal deviation with the control subgroup (recordings by intraoral tracing technique) and with each other taken from ten different edentulous individuals. The problems of occlusion extend into nearly all branches of dentistry. While the principles involved are the same, their application should be different according to the situation. Centric relation can be located by many techniques but there is some variability in the results obtained by any of them. Therefore, each dentist should have a means of comparing his registrations so that an intelligent selection can be made. The dentist should not fall into the error of trying to make the same application in all situations. An accurate centric jaw relationship record is important when constructing dentures. It is a three-dimensional record and, to be accurate for a given individual, the relationship, anteroposteriorly and laterally, should be recorded at the occlusal vertical dimension deemed correct for the individual. This study demonstrates a significant statistical difference between the recordings taken with intraoral tracing technique and among 71 other subgroups evaluated by two techniques. The recordings made with the extraoral Gothic arch tracing technique values were closer to the control as compared with two other subgroups in both the evaluations. Furthermore this study does not show the superiority of any of method for recording centric jaw relation on one another. This study only shows the deviation of the recordings made with four different techniques among different subgroups. Accurate records for centric jaw relation can be made with any of these techniques, but the chances of errors are more in tactile methods as compared to graphic methods.